Some Telus customers are upset after the phone and internet service company started sending out notifications that it is reducing upload and download limits on its internet service. (The Canadian Press Images/Lee Brown) | CP

Telus senior communications manager Shawn Hall told The Huffington Post the changes are being put in place “to better manage internet investment,” and added the company’s bandwidth caps are high enough that even the heaviest bandwidth users “have more than enough.”

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Canadians are more satisfied with smaller "stand-alone" wireless companies like Koodo and Virgin Mobile than they are with full-service telecoms like Bell and Rogers, according to a survey from J.D. Power and Associates released in May, 2012. Read the full report here.
Source: J.D. Power and Associates
Number represents score out of 1,000.

Source: J.D. Power and Associates
Number represents score out of 1,000.

Source: J.D. Power and Associates
Number represents score out of 1,000.

Source: J.D. Power and Associates
Number represents score out of 1,000.

Source: J.D. Power and Associates
Number represents score out of 1,000.

Hall said that, unlike some other internet providers, Telus doesn’t actually charge customers overage fees for exceeding their caps. Users who exceed their caps are encouraged to switch to a higher service plan.

But the changes have unleashed a wave of anger at Telus on social media, with commenters on news site Reddit echoing now-familiar complaints about Canada’s internet infrastructure.

“This is a perfect example of the non-competitive bulls--t we have to put up with. Where's the CRTC in this? Isn't it part of their job to ensure a competitive marketplace?” asked commenter nachochease. “I hope people switch away from Telus in droves to show the big telcos that we're not sheep who are willing to pay top dollar for garbage service.”

Commenters wondered whether the point of the change was to limit usage of Netflix, the streaming movie and TV service that competes with telecom firms’ on-demand TV services. Telus offers satellite TV service and Optik TV, a TV service through the internet that offers on-demand movies and shows.

Netflix itself has expressed frustration with internet access in Canada. Ted Sarandos, the company’s chief content officer, recently said at a conference that Canadians “have almost third-world access to the internet” because of high prices, a relative lack of competition, and bandwidth caps.